The Enigmatic Softstone Vessels of Northern Madagascar: Petrological Investigations of a Medieval Quarry

Nitsche, Christoph; Schreurs, Guido; Serneels, Vincent

doi:10.1080/00934690.2022.2092689

Cited by 4 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…In fact, this study showed that talc-rich pottery seems to have been locally produced in the provinces of Nsundi, Mbata, and Mpemba, the latter being home to the kingdom's capital (Tsoupra et al 2022). It is also important to highlight that prestigious objects manufactured from talcose rocks have additionally been found in other African contexts that are contemporary of the Kongo kingdom, such as the tripod cooking pots of the Rasikajy (Madagascar) produced by specialized craftsman using regional sources (Nitsche et al 2022); the soapstone statues of Esie (southwestern Nigeria), likely carved from local ultramafic rocks (Ige and Swanson 2008); and the soapstone birds and decorated bowls of Great Zimbabwe (southeaster Zimbabwe) found in the vicinity of evidences of local stone-working (Chirikure and Pikirayi 2008).…”

Section: Insights Into the Possible Provenance Of The Type 44 Bead Ra...mentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Despite the fact that talc is fairly common in Africa (e.g., Noack et al 1989;Schlüter 2008), its use in the manufacture of personal adornment objects has rarely been reported in African archaeological contexts. Talc-schist, steatite, soapstone, or other talcose rocks are considered soft stones as they can be easily carved, drilled, and polished (Ige and Swanson 2008;Baron et al 2016;Mini et al 2016;Nitsche et al 2022). The mineral talc, a crystalline hydrated magnesium phyllosilicate (Mg 3 Si 4 O 10 (OH) 2 ), is the softest known mineral with a Mohs hardness of 1 out of 10 (Deer et al 2013;Mini et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Personal adornments in West-Central Africa—the case study of a talc bead from the Kongo Kingdom (Mbanza Kongo, Angola)

Costa

Barrulas

Lopes

et al. 2023

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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A mustard-gold-colored talc bead was recovered during the 2014 excavation campaign carried out in Lumbu (Mbanza Kongo, Angola) together with the nineteenth-century glass trade beads imported from Bohemia and Venice. Results from this multi-analytical and minimally invasive study suggest that this bead may have been brought to the kingdom’s capital by means of an established intra-kingdom trade network or as an offering intended for the king or a member of the nobility. However, it was undoubtedly manufactured within the Kongo kingdom using talc sources known by the local population. As such, this talc bead constitutes the first evidence of local production of personal adornment objects in the Kongo kingdom and one of the first examples of craft specialization for personal adornment purposes in central and southern Africa since pre-historic times.

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Section: Insights Into the Possible Provenance Of The Type 44 Bead Ra...mentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal adornments in West-Central Africa—the case study of a talc bead from the Kongo Kingdom (Mbanza Kongo, Angola)

Costa

Barrulas

Lopes

et al. 2023

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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show abstract

“…During the excavations at the quarry of Bobalila (Serneels et al, 2020;Nitsche et al, 2022), it quickly became apparent that not all of the blocks showed tool marks and many of the apparently identical black boulders lay unscathed. Thin sections of these rejected blocks revealed that in contrast to the rocks used for vessel production, they contain large amounts of serpentine and very little talc.…”

Section: Serpentine-bearing Hoesbachitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the results that are presented in the following are entirely based on field observations during prospections where time at each site was always limited. Only the quarry of Bobalila has been studied in more detail in 2019, where it was the first of its kind to ever be excavated (Serneels et al, 2020;Nitsche et al, 2022). The observations of the quarry features that are summarised in Tab.…”

Section: Vessel Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Usually, only one hole can be observed on a single block, but at times, blocks can contain four or five incisions. The motivation behind these holes has long stayed unknown, but the petrographic study of blocks from Bobalila (Serneels et al, 2020;Nitsche et al, 2022) that were tested and not exploited has revealed a possible reason. The metasomatic processes that transform hard magmatic rocks into chlorite schist can result in two different varieties of rock that both contain equal amounts of amphibole, chlorite and opaque phases, but differ in the fourth principal mineral.…”

Section: First Step: Testing and Selection Of Raw Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Exploitation, Processing and Use of Softstone in Northern Madagascar and its Links to the Indian Ocean World, 800 – 1500 CE

Nitsche

2023

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From the 9th to the 16th century CE, northern Madagascar was settled by the Islamised Rasikajy population who, as active participants in the Indian Ocean Trade Network, exploited the various natural resources of the island. Among the most spectacular remains of the Rasikajy are finely decorated latheturned tripod vessels made from a particular softstone called chlorite schist, which was quarried in the remote hinterland of the island. Over 30 quarries were visited in the course of this project, many of them previously unknown to science. The survey allowed a detailed look into the applied technologies, the petrography of the material and the stylistic diversity of the vessels. The results from this study largely expand the history of softstone exploitation in Madagascar and provide new insights into the culture of the widely unknown Rasikajy and how they were influenced by the realm of the Indian Ocean World.

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The exploitation, processing and use of softstone in northern Madagascar and its links to the Indian Ocean world, 800–1500 CE

Nitsche

2023

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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From the 9 th to the 16 th century CE, northern Madagascar was settled by the Islamised Rasikajy population who, as active participants in the Indian Ocean Trade Network, quickly started exploiting the various natural resources of the island. Among the most spectacular remains of the Rasikajy are finely decorated lathe-turned tripod vessels made from a particular dark green to gray silicate softstone called chlorite schist, that crops out in the crystalline hinterland. In the course of this project, over 30 quarries were visited, many of them previously unknown. The survey allowed a detailed look into the production line and operation of the quarries, which is very similar throughout the sites. However, local differences were still observed and suggest that while the vessel production followed a common technological tradition, it can not be considered as a standardised procedure. A unique feature of the production line is the use of an iron bar for the shaping of preforms, which has not been recorded elsewhere in the world and highlights the particularity of this Malagasy tradition.The petrographic study on a vast array of quarry samples and geological material with petrographic microscopy, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction allowed the characterisation of the material. Chlorite schist, a faulty petrographic name for a type of rock which should be called Hoesbachite or Amphibole-Talc-Chlorite Fels after modern standards, is a unique metacumulate that was metasomatised into an amphibole-and talc-rich softstone, which occurs in a single geological unit called Manambato Suite. Zircon dating revealed an emplacement age between 750-700 Ma for the quarried occurrences and recorded Pan-African metamorphism around 500 Ma ago. The metasomatic processes responsible for the formation of chlorite schist resulted in a high compositional variation that can occur on a quarry scale. Rasikajy workers were aware of this and ensured their specific material choice by testing the rocks in the quarries, resulting in a homogenous compositional array for the material used for vessel production. The detailed geological processes behind the compositional variation on a quarry scale are also crucial for other, more commonly used softstones such as steatites, and should be considered for any provenance attempt on these materials.In an attempt to refine the knowledge on the styles and particularities of the finished vessels, different stylistic groups were distinguished for the first time. In addition to the remarkable tripod vessels that were produced in the studied quarries, a second group of feet-less bowls made from talc schist was identified. This group, which was most likely produced in a second and older quarry zone south of the Bay of Antongil, is a rare find in the Malagasy archaeological record, but dominates the softstone inventory of Démbeni, an important trading port on ii Mayotte that was active in the late first millennium CE. The results from this study largely expand the history of softstone exploitation in northern Ma...

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The Enigmatic Softstone Vessels of Northern Madagascar: Petrological Investigations of a Medieval Quarry

Cited by 4 publications

References 65 publications

Personal adornments in West-Central Africa—the case study of a talc bead from the Kongo Kingdom (Mbanza Kongo, Angola)

Personal adornments in West-Central Africa—the case study of a talc bead from the Kongo Kingdom (Mbanza Kongo, Angola)

The Exploitation, Processing and Use of Softstone in Northern Madagascar and its Links to the Indian Ocean World, 800 – 1500 CE

The exploitation, processing and use of softstone in northern Madagascar and its links to the Indian Ocean world, 800–1500 CE

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